[randomguy]

OK, so a while back, I bought a "NEW" but apparently not "RECENT" Glock 42 on GunBroker. Paid by check, took forever, but it got here. (On a side note, met a cool guy that's an FFL that works about 400 yards from my office.....)

Took it and fired it and didn't have any complaints. Took my wife out to shoot it and she had a bunch of feed failures and some stove pipes. We only had about 200 rounds with us, and 4 mags. She'd have a couple problems, then I'd burn through 4 full mags quickly without any issue. I thought she was maybe limp wristing, but she shoots my 43 without any issue, even though she's "jittery".

So I decided to get a hold of Glock. They responded the same day with return shipping instructions. Great. I shipped on a Wed, they got it on a Friday. The following Monday, I got a FedEx notification and a box showed up the following Wednesday. Super fast!

Inside the box is my pistol. Two mags were replaced with the current revision (03), and there was a sheet with a laundry list of replaced parts, but no actual verbiage of what was done. (I'll post that below). So I emailed back and asked if I was to assume that all those parts were replaced. Guy got back a day or two later and said that yes, everything on that list was replaced. They test fired 36 rounds of varying brands/types of ammo with no issue.

OK cool. Took it to a range and put a box through it, worked great. Then a work buddy asked me if he could borrow it to demo for his wife. She had groped one in a store and was thinking of buying one, so I said sure. They took it to a range and both had all kinds of problems with it apparently. I don't know that she has shot much, but he's an experienced shooter.

So I brought it back home and messed around with it a bit this evening. Apparently, anyone but me who touches this gun has a problem with it. Sure enough, though, I can get it to hang just racking the slide in the basement.

When it's hung, it's almost as if the ass end is high and the nose is down. However, it's not stuck on the feed ramp. The barrel still wiggles without the cartridge moving, so it hasn't reached it yet.

Some other observations maybe worth noting: I didn't know this until now, but this was apparently new old stock. Test cartridge date is Oct 2014.

I'm using Pearce +1 extensions but did NOT send them back to Glock that way.

I've seen this issue with the original slide release lever, as well as the Vickers extended slide release lever.

I watched a YouTube vid where a guy was talking about being able to wiggle the mag back and forth while it's in there, and he's totally right.

You can do that with this one, but I haven't tried his tape trick and probably won't. If I need tape to make this thing work, it's not for me.

Anyway, so I guess I'll get a hold of Glock and probably send this back again unless anyone else has a home remedy.

Oh yeah, and here are the parts replaced in Georgia:

33564 - Connector
33188 - Slide cover plate
33272 - Slide stop lever
33218 - Trigger housing
33206 - Trigger with bar
Mags

 

[Easy_CZ]

If it shoots fine for you, I don’t see the problem. Limp-wristing, poor grip, and just plain poor pistol-shooting form can affect how a pistol performs. You’d be surprised the stupid stuff people do with firearms. What brand/weight ammo was your friend using?

 

[randomguy]

Good points, but I've generally got my G43 on me. I bought this for my wife and eventually kids to shoot and learn. She's not wanting to carry at the moment, but in the right SHTF scenario, I can see her asking me to help get a purse setup with a pocket holster.... So yeah, it has mostly worked well for me, but I need to know it's reliable.

After it came back from Glock, I used some Federal hardball, and it was fine. In an interesting twist, but my went to the same place and bought the same exact Federal ammo. I have also fired some Hornady American Gunner 95gr JHP and they worked fine. When my wife was having issues, I think it was Remington UMC FMJ if I recall correctly.....

 

[Fxstchewy]

I have an older 42, nothing's been updated on it, it like's any XTP round and i carry Underwood standard XTP's in it, never had any issue with any ball ammo except Buffalo Bore standard pressure 100 gr loads, shot one magazine thru it second one locked slide back no more BB in my 42, the Precision One 100's worked fine, Everything else has been good.

 

[PattonWasRight]

There's definitely a case IMO that the 42 is sensitive to the bullet profile and overall length.

Me, I have steered clear of the 42 and have the Ruger LCP instead.

 

[randomguy]

Just to update this thread, my G42 is currently on its way back to Smyrna. Will post back when I know more.

 

[DAVEF]

If it does not function for your wife when it gets back the second time, then a possible fix is to polish the feed ramp. Just because your 43 works fine for you wife, doesn't mean that your 42 is not significantly more grip sensitive. Every pistol, even of the same brand make, may vary with how grip sensitive it is. Of the four 42's I have, one was grip sensitive. After a gunsmith polished the feed ramp, I could not get it to malfunction no matter how lightly I gripped it, including weak hand (one handed) with just enough grip that it stayed in my hand under recoil. That particularly 42 was test fired in Oct 2014 and has not had any updates.

42's are also particularly sensitive to weaker ammo. The ammo you listed is probably warm enough, but the warmer the ammo is the more likely it will feed without issue and less that how it is gripped becomes an issue. At least that is my experience with four older 42's.

 

[randomguy]

Hey Dave, thanks for posting, I'm glad you brought that up. Before I contacted Glock again, I was messing with it in the basement, basically just racking the slide to see if I could reproduce a feed issue by manually cycling. Turns out that I could reproduce it fairly easily, and when it was hung up, the barrel was free to wiggle a little bit, telling me that the cartridge wasn't stuck on the ramp.

I had read about some folks polishing their ramps and frankly, I had hoped the solution was that simple.

I noted my observations with the Glock rep, so we'll see what happens.

 

[DAVEF]

It doesn't have to get hung up on the ramp itself for it to be a feed ramp issue. What probably happens is that the round gets slowed slightly by an additional amount of friction on the feed ramp. The issues I saw were the nose of the bullet getting hung up on the top of the chamber. The rounds would almost feed, but not quite.

Manually cycling can be quite different than while shooting. For example, none of mine will feed an XTP round 100% reliably if I use the slide stop lever to feed a round. In those instances where it fails to feed, it nosedives on the feed ramp and gets hung up. Hoever, if I use a sling shot method, pulling the slide all the way back and releasing it, XTP loads do feed 100%. They also feed 100% reliably while actually shooting as long as the load is warm enough of course. I get completely different malfunctions with XTP loads (before feed ramp polishing) while shooting than while manually cycling the slide. It seems the issues I am experiencing with manually cycling the slide while using XTP loads is caused by a magazine issue or a combination of other issues rather than feed ramp issue. At least that is my take on it.

 

[lawyer69]

If it does not function for your wife when it gets back the second time, then a possible fix is to polish the feed ramp. Just because your 43 works fine for you wife, doesn't mean that your 42 is not significantly more grip sensitive. Every pistol, even of the same brand make, may vary with how grip sensitive it is. Of the four 42's I have, one was grip sensitive. After a gunsmith polished the feed ramp, I could not get it to malfunction no matter how lightly I gripped it, including weak hand (one handed) with just enough grip that it stayed in my hand under recoil. That particularly 42 was test fired in Oct 2014 and has not had any updates.

42's are also particularly sensitive to weaker ammo. The ammo you listed is probably warm enough, but the warmer the ammo is the more likely it will feed without issue and less that how it is gripped becomes an issue. At least that is my experience with four older 42's.

My experience with an early 42 was exactly the same. Once the ramp was polished it was perfect even with a version 1 mag that was one of the 2 originals.

 

[glockin9]

My G42,when I pull the trigger, it keep on shooting.

 

[Lucian_253]

I think I found the solution.

 

[randomguy]

I'm pretty stubborn, not ready to give up yet!

 

[Lucian_253]

I'm pretty stubborn, not ready to give up yet!

Was just giving you crap. The Glock 42 is a Glock. In theory it should be more reliable then a sub $400 ruger. I love my lcp 2 though. Perfect pocket .380. Good luck figuring out your 42!

 

[randomguy]

So I got a notification that it left GA today. On the one hand, I'm excited about a quick turnaround. But on the other hand, I'm curious as to how thorough they could have been when it wasn't there for but around 24 hours. I should get it Thursday, so I guess I'll plan on going to shoot on Friday.

 

[DAVEF]

If it doesn't work for your wife when you get it back, another option is to send it back again and ask for it to be replaced. I did that with an early Gen 4 Glock 20. It would not function with any loads I tried. Maybe a feed ramp polish would have fixed it at least partially. Glock offered me anything I wanted, so I asked for a Gen3 20 which has been excellent.

 

[DAVEF]

I think I found the solution.

The little LCP's work pretty reliably in my little experience. I have even thought they were fun to shoot. Won't last nearly as long as a 42, but I have heard of Ruger replacing them when they have worn out!

 

[Lucian_253]

The little LCP's work pretty reliably in my little experience. I have even thought they were fun to shoot. Won't last nearly as long as a 42, but I have heard of Ruger replacing them when they have worn out!

Ruger is known for just replacing the gun or part that isn't working in one of their guns. No cost to you. They may not have best QC, but they have top notch customer service!!

 

[DAVEF]

Ruger is known for just replacing the gun or part that isn't working in one of their guns. No cost to you. They may not have best QC, but they have top notch customer service!!

I haven't had a problem with any Ruger that I have owned, so I can't personally say anything about any lack of QC. Sold a couple that I should have kept including a Mini 30 that was way more accurate than it theoretically should have been.

 

[jamesdo72]

Good intel on Ruger customer service.
My pops has a P85 that on our last range day failed to feed while shooting some reman rounds. I chalked it up to sh!tty ammo, but if I am wrong, we may have to hit up the fine folks at Ruger.
Appreciate it!